House labor panel to push bills providing more jobs, better protection for workers

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MANILA — The chairman of the House committee on Labor and Employment over the weekend said his panel would continue pushing for the passage of bills providing more jobs and better protection for Filipino workers when Congress resumes session on July 27.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said while various labor market studies and even survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) indicated improvement in the country’s labor situation, Congress still needs to act on various labor bills.

“Our mission should not just to facilitate the passage of bills that would increase the number of jobs available to our countrymen but also provide them with protection from manipulation by their employers and improve their working conditions,” Nograles said.

He said his committee is working overtime to ensure the passage of the Jobstart Bill, which he authored to provide training and exposure in the work place for first-time job seekers.

“House Bill 5468 aims to institutionalize the Jobstart Philippines Program, which was initiated by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to better prepare first-time job seekers with the needed skills to assume full-time jobs,” Nograles said.

The veteran solon said his panel is also working hard to push for the approval of House Bill 4969 or the Green Jobs bill, which would open job opportunities that promote the use of environment friendly technologies.

Northern Samar Rep. Harlin C. Abayon also filed House Bill 1417, seeking to promote the creation of green collar jobs and providing a strategic initiative for its implementation.

The House Committee on Labor and Employment is working on several bills prohibiting discrimination in hiring and during employment by reason of age, gender or school graduated from. These include House Bill 0268 of Rep. Eric Olivarez (Parañaque City), House Bills 399 and 411 of Rep. Susan Yap (Tarlac), House Bill 0502 of Rep. Rodolfo Biazon (Muntinlupa City), House Bill 560 of Rep. Emmeline Aglipay-Villar (Party -list, DIWA), House Bills 1753 and 2280 of Rep. Imelda Calixto-Rubiano (Pasay City), House Bill 2416 of Rep. Lucy Gomez (Leyte), House Bill 3139 of Rep.

Emmi De Jesus (Party-list, Gabriela), House Bill 3632 of Rep. Ma. Theresa Bonoan (Manila), House Bill 4227 of Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro City), House Bill 4724 of Rep. Leah Paquiz (Party-lList, NARS), among others.

Several measures that strengthen security of tenure of workers are also being pushed by the committee and these are House Bills 4227, 3559, 2419, 573, and 124 of Reps. Rufus Rodriguez, Raymond Democrito Mendoza (Party-list, TUCP), Silvestre Bello (Party-list, 1-BAP), Walden Bello (Party-list, AKBAYAN), and Aglipay-Villar.

Bills providing better protection for workers in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, such as House Bills 562, 1180, 1777 and 4414 of Aglipay-Villar, and Reps. Terry Ridon (Party-list, Kabataan), Carlos Isagani Zarate (Party -list, Bayan Muna), and Zajid Mangudadatu (Maguindanao), respectively, are also being taken up in the House labor committee.

Also being discussed in the committee are the proposed Magna Carta for workers in the informal economy, namely House Bills 1110, 2295, 2307, and 3400, of Reps. Evelina Escudero (Sorsogon), Danilo Ramos Fernandez (Laguna), Aglipay-Villar, and Bellaflor Angara-Castillo (Aurora).

“I really hope that even with election season drawing very near, we could still pass and enact some of these measures. It’s not enough that we provide more jobs for our people, we need to give them jobs that will improve their lives,” Nograles concluded.